Boy Sized Dent
by Shoujo's Revenge
Summary: She's allergic to flowers, stays as far away from him as possible, loves to collect fox memorabilia and she accidentally plows into him with a car. She's the perfect mate for him! Kurama x oc
1. Enter Strangeness

**Boy Sized Dent **by Shoujo's Revenge

Summary: She's allergic to flowers, stays as far away from him as possible, loves to collect fox memorabilia and she accidentally plows into him with a car. She's the perfect mate for him. Kurama x oc

Disclaimer: Yoshihiro Togashi owns Yuu Yuu Hakusho.

Crash One: Enter Strangeness

To him, Mizuki Aoi was just another classmate of his who happened to succeed academically like him. Despite her excellent grades, she's barely noticeable since she seems to go out of her way to avoid him. She wasn't interested in his brains or beauty like his female or even male admirers. One of the only times they interacted was the day when the teacher asked her, the reluctant class president to pass out the papers so they could vote for the next class trip. Her hand accidentally touched his and she pulled back hers quickly as if she had been shocked by electricity, apologizing under her breathe. Then she had moved past his desk, distributing the rest of the papers.

"Aoi-san," one of the girls casually walked up to her one day, whispering in her ear. The next second Mizuki completely freaked out, pulling the back of her skirt down. Thankfully, their classmates hadn't noticed her skirt had been stuck in her white panty except for the ever observant Shuuichi Minamino. The same girl who told Mizuki was simply known as Miyabe. She turned around to his desk and stated plainly: "Minamino-san, _you _could've told her about it instead of enjoying the view." With a rose red blush, Mizuki stomped off in embarrassment rousing everyone's interests.

"What just happened?" "Why is Aoi-san so angry? That glare she directed at him sort of counted as their second interaction. It was actually an amazing sight for it was the first time she looked angry. Kurama was rather miffed about the situation himself but at the careless Miyabe. Surely he didn't have to explain to her that you didn't randomly walked up to a girl and tell her about her skirt malfunction. As a matter of fact, he did not enjoy the view of her exposed underwear. He supposed he owed Aoi an apology though it wasn't his fault for her own carelessness.

The next few times he saw her were at the school library, in the hallways, anywhere in the school but in class, he overheard from whispering girls gossiping why she begged the principal to switch to another class. In an inopportune moment the tomboyish Miyabe was passing out study guides for their upcoming midterms.

"I hope you're happy, Minamino. Aoi-san is in another class just because of your wandering eyes. Pervert." She slammed the guide on his desk. He saw the weird looks his classmates gave him. He was seriously starting to hate the new student.

Mizuki transferring out of class wasn't very interesting to him so he went on with his life. Out of sight, out of mind. After the incidents in school, he was about to go home to finish the rest of his schoolwork when Botan floated next to him on an oar. As usual there was a case in need of dire attention as he joined up with Yusuke and the others at Reikai only to find his tall gruff friend missing in action.

"His stupid cat's missing." Yusuke explained after Kurama inquired about it.

"Hn. We'll be fine without the baka." Hiei commented.

And so they went to solve the dilemma before dinnertime rolled around. It was another successful case without Kuwabara's usual loud arguments with Yusuke or Hiei or rambling on about being a man or proclaiming his love for Yukina.

In fact, he didn't get to see Kuwabara for days that stretched into a week. At the same time Mizuki ran frantically posting fliers around the school vicinity. Kurama noticed the bandaged up kitten in the black and white picture looked exactly like Eikichi.

"Excuse me, Aoi-san. I think I may know the owner of the kitten," he said after she backed nervously away from him, clutching the pile of fliers to her chest.

"Really? The cat didn't have any contact information on its collar. The owner's probably worried sick. Please tell whoever it is that the cat's fine and it's not hurt too badly."

"_Too _badly? It looks like it's been hit by a car." He observed. She shifted uncomfortably, staring guiltily at the grass.

"Um, well you see I really needed to get medicine before it got too dark. My older brother was at his dorm and grandpa can't drive so I had to use the car."

"You mean you-"

"It was an accident! I didn't mean to hit the little thing! Besides he just ran out of nowhere and I couldn't see properly...Ah!" She quickly scribbled her contact information on the back of a flier and handed it him.

"Here's my address and phone number. Please reassure the owner that the cat was immediately taken to the vet and he's all stitched up. The bills are all paid for and the vet says he'll be just fine. The owner can pick it up anytime." She made to run away from him but decided to bow to him. "Thanks Minamino-san. I've been feeling guilty for a week. Um, I'll see you later, I guess." This time she really did run off.

Kurama looked down at her slanted address and phone number, remembering the fox charm dangling off the end of her lead pencil.

"Kuwabara-kun will be glad to hear this," he muttered, folding the paper carefully.

He started the walk to his house while he comtemplated the strange coincidence. What were the odds of having his teammate's cat being hit by his former classmate's car?

Weeks passed after their third and (first genuine) interaction. Kuwabara had retrieved his cat from Mizuki with tears of happiness. He confided in everyone that he forgave the nervous girl because she was just a girl and Eikichi really was okay so no harm, no foul. Hiei would've said something along the lines of "baka" if he was there with them except he was starting to disappear from their assignment meetings. Kurama had to look for the Jaganshi since Botan couldn't seem to find him.

"Hiei's been acting kind of weird lately." Koenma told them after he left.

"Weird like how, Koenma-sama?" Botan asked.

"He came around this afternoon demanding me to pay him."

"Why would Hiei need money?" Yusuke asked, scratching his head.

Meanwhile, in Ningenkai, Mizuki turned around to face the cash register and found a boy clad in black and wearing a bandanna around his forehead standing there expectantly. She just started her shift at the fox themed ice cream parlor. It was her new parttime job since she used up all her savings to pay for the injured cat's operation. Thankfully, her school was lenient about her taking this job because her guardian was currently unable to work.

_This boy keeps coming here everyday now. He really loves ice cream, huh? _

"Welcome to the Heavenly Kitsune Ice Cream Parlor. What kind of ice cream would you like?" She said, smiling like the way the manager taught her to.

She was holding an ice cream scooper as he set down a bag on the counter. The contents of the bag jingled while she opened to see what was inside. Her eyes widened at how much coins were in the bag.

"I want to try the other flavors this time," the boy stated, looking at the colorful choices.

"O-okay but do you really want to spent all this money on ice cream?"

"Of course," he said simply.

Mizuki rushed to fulfill all his orders as he pointed to all the flavors he wanted. By the time he finished dictating his orders, she was panting slightly and leaning on the cash register. She immediately straightened up when a group of kids entered. Hiei sat at the corner booth surrounded by cups and bowls of different flavored ice cream. He calmly licked his three layer ice cream cone watching the teenage girl make a banana split sundae for a little girl. He made a mental note to order that the next time he came here.

"Thank you. Please come again," Mizuki said, waving to the kids who eagerly waved back to her.

She turned back to the register and took out the proper change for Hiei's purchases.

"Hey you forgot your change. Sorry I couldn't give it to you earlier. You really love ice cream, don't you?" She said, reaching his table.

"Hn." Was all he said.

"Okay. I'll just put it here then." She wanted to engage him in conversation when the fox shaped bell rang signifying another customer. "Gotta get back to work." She muttered.

"Hello. Welcome to Heavenly Kitsune Ice Cream Parlor. How may I help you?"

A brunette woman dressed in business attire perused the selection, smiling.

"Hmm...There are so many flavors. I'm not sure what to order. What do you recommend? Oh, my, that boy sure loves his ice cream." She commented, noticing the anti-social boy in the corner.

Mizuki bit down her lip to keep from laughing. The faint tingle of the bell made the woman turn to the entrance.

"Kaa-san, what are you doing here?" The familiar voice made Mizuki freeze.

_That voice. It couldn't be..._

"Oh, Shuuichi, dear. I just had a craving for ice cream so I came here. People keep recommending this place to me. The fox theme is adorable, isn't it?" The friendly woman asked.

_Oh, Kami-sama! It _is _him. What's he doing here? _The familiar redheaded boy came up next to the woman.

"Aoi-san, you work here?" Kurama just barely recognized her underneath the pink cap with faux fox ears poking out. She nodded meekly.

_How embarrassing! I hope he doesn't see the tail behind me._

"Do you know this girl, Shuuichi?" Shiori asked her son.

"She's one of my classmates or rather used to be."

"We-welcome to I-ice Pa-parlor Ki-kitsune Hea-heavenly Cre-cream. H-how may I help you?" Mizuki stuttered, clasping her hands together.

"Are you all right, dear? Are you starting to feel cold?" Shiori asked. Kurama just sweatdropped.

_Hiei?_ He finally noticed the fire youkai starting on the cup of chocolate chip ice cream.

Mizuki snapped out of it long enough to see her former classmate walk to the booth the silent boy was occupying. Shiori tried to ask her if she was okay again.

"Huh? Oh, sorry I didn't get your order. What would you like to order, ma'am?" She readied the scooper.

"I haven't ordered anything, dear. I just asked if you were okay."

"Oh, yes, yes I'm okay. You asked me what I would recommend before right?" She gave out samples of the new flavors the parlor owner came up with himself.

"Shuuichi, you should try this flavor. What was it called again?"

"The seven tailed kitsune flavor." Mizuki smiled uneasily. "It's just called that because the owner is obsessed with foxes. Who can blame him though? They're adorable."

"What about those flavors? What's in them?" Shiori pointed out at the selection way in the corner.

Mizuki looked even more uncomfortable this time. "Excessive amounts of alcohol. The owner is kind of a heavy drinker, too."

_You would have to be to come up with the design of this place. _Kurama thought as he went up to his mother again.

"Kaa-san, my friend and I have an appointment we have to keep. I'll see you later at home, okay? Would you mind terribly clearing up the table, Aoi-san? Thanks. I owe you one."

Kurama practically had to drag Hiei by the back of his cloak to get out of the ice cream parlor. He was not happy having to leave his sweet snow.

"Uh, thank you! Please come again!" She cried after them. _That little boy forgot his change. _The little fox bell jingled as they watched Shuuichi struggle with the boy. The short boy seemed to want to go back in.

"I'm going to have a talk with that boy about cleaning up after his mess." Shiori said.

Mizuki sighed. She couldn't wait until her shift ended. Hopefully, no more strange things will happen until then. _Minamino-san are friends with some strange people. _

And so concluded their fourth interaction which ended on an abrupt note. The forgotten change would serve as a great way for them to interact for the fifth time except Mizuki asked Miyabe to do it for her since they were in the same class.

"Minamino-san, Mizuki would like for me to give this to you." The short-haired girl placed a bag on his table. "She told me to tell you to please return the change to the little boy." Kurama looked up from his textbook.

"What little boy?" He asked.

Miyabe shrugged her shoulders. "She told me you and some little boy were at the ice cream parlor she works at. He forgot his change and she wants it returned to him."

_She thinks Hiei is a little boy? _He didn't think Hiei would appreciate hearing Mizuki call him that though he couldn't resist smiling.

"Thanks, Miyabe. Tell Aoi-san not to worry. I'll return his change." Kurama was about to continue reading his textbook when Miyabe blocked the words with her hand. He looked up again with a cocked eyebrow. "Was there something else you needed, Miyabe?"

"I kind of feel like you can help her." He blinked. She scrutinized his effeminate features then shook her head. Maybe she was just imagining things. "Never mind, Minamino-san. I'll tell her what you said." With that, she went back to her own desk.

Their encounter at the ice cream parlor was their last one for the month as the midterms came around. Mizuki rushed to work right after school while she snuck in studying late at night. In the morning, she had to wake up early to prepare breakfast for her grandpa and her dog. These days she couldn't afford to enjoy a nice breakfast anymore so she just settled on waiting for lunch. Her life was what one would say was complicated what with having to take care of everyone in the household including herself. The last thing she needed was a disruption in her life. What with having a fire demon going to her workplace all the time plus attending school with a plant manipulating fox demon, her life was about to get even more complicated when she meets more of "Minamino-san's" friends.

"I wonder why Botan wanted us to meet here," Yusuke said, looking up at the ridiculously cute logo of Heavenly Kitsune Ice Cream Parlor. A halo surrounded the capitalized bubble letter 'H' while a roundeyed animelike fox sat with its front paws out of the 'o' of the word 'Parlor.' "This place is way too cute." He added in distaste. _It really suits Botan's taste. _

"We should tell Kurama about this place. He would love the girl in the fox ears," Kuwabara said, looking at the fox girl passing a swirly ice cream cone to a little boy. Yusuke followed his gaze and laughed. The cap fell off the girl's head when the little boy reached up to touch her ears.

Kuwabara followed Yusuke into the ice cream shop after he pulled open the glass door. The mother of the little boy apologized for his behavior as Mizuki adjusted her hat. The teenage girl just waved it off. The two boys lined up after an elderly lady.

"Thank you for your patronage. Please come again." Mizuki said, bowing. The boy and his mother left the store as a man stepped forward to order.

"Ah, it's you!" Kuwabara exclaimed, pointing to Mizuki when it was Yusuke's turn to order. He turned from Kuwabara to Mizuki.

"You know her, Kuwabara?"

"She's the girl I told you about. You know the one who gave me back Eikichi." Mizuki's face dropped. She didn't want to be reminded of how she ran over a cat. Then she reminded herself she had to smile that sunny smile when she was in the ridiculous fox costume. As much as she liked foxes, dressing up like one was never on her list of fox themed things to do.

"Welcome! What would you like to order today?" Her eyebrow twitched. She was seriously getting sick of saying the long greeting over and over again. Her body's weariness was starting to affect her smile as well. It was all she could to maintain the perfect toothy smile.

"Hey, Kuwabara. Check it out! That flavor is called the seven tailed kitsune. What does that taste like?" Yusuke pointed to a pure white carton filled with many kinds of colors.

"You may try a sample if you'd like," Mizuki said.

"I would love to try a sample!" A bright voice surprised the three of them. A blue-haired girl popped her head between Kuwabara's and Yusuke's shoulders, her arms on either of their shoulder blades. Mizuki regained her composure.

_Where did that girl come from? She couldn't have come in from the front door. I don't remember hearing the bell ring. _

"Um, where did you come from?" _Was she with them the whole time and I just didn't notice?_

"Through the front door, of course!" The girl said nervously. The two boys glared at the blue-haired girl.

_You couldn't have used the front door? _Yusuke thought.

"Why did you want us to meet here anyway?" He asked. The three of them forgot about Mizuki who stared oddly at the trio. She could've sworn that girl wasn't there before. She was starting to think she was working too hard. It was almost the end of her shift. When was the other girl coming to replace her?

Botan ordered three banana split sundaes. "I just wanted to reward you two with something for all the hardwork last week." Mizuki overheard her say while she peeled the bananas.

"You think ice cream is enough to make it up to us?" Yusuke exclaimed.

"Shh, shh, something even better than ice cream. Kurama figured out where Hiei's been disappearing to." Botan finished with a giggle. "Believe me. Finding out his secret will make up for that." Kuwabara and Yusuke looked at each other, wondering what treat was in store for them. Whatever it was it had to be good stuff for her to look like that.

Yusuke and his friends seated themselves at a booth further away from the front door, eating their ice cream sundaes. Botan ended up paying for it. As there wasn't anybody lining up, Mizuki was slumped on a chair behind the counter. Her listless eyes looked down at her watch. Her shift was supposed to be over five minutes ago. Where was Aiko? She was on the verge of falling asleep, her eyelids drooping.

The bell ringing made her straighten her posture lest it was the boss who was coming to check on her. He does that randomly from time to time.

"This is boring. How long do we have to wait?" Yusuke asked, stirring his melted ice cream. Botan checked her watch.

_That's strange. Kurama said that Hiei comes in here around this time. _She twisted around in her seat, gasping. _There he is! _There was no way she could miss the tall black hair. She nudged Yusuke's arm and he in turn hit Kuwabara's arm. The taller boy would've spluttered something indignantly if Yusuke hadn't covered his mouth. They looked at the direction of the counter where Hiei was standing.

"Hello there," Mizuki said, not bothering to say the customary greeting. The boy didn't seemed to mind the lack of proper greeting. He just wanted ice cream (or known to him as sweet snow). "Just a vanilla cone today? You usually get the more colorful flavors." She commented, getting his order. He didn't say anything except 'hn'. It was none of her business that he decided to go with a tamer flavor since he kept getting stomaches from the excessive ice cream. Hiei held out a bill. "Oh, that's okay. You don't have to pay me today."

"You said the ice cream wasn't free two weeks ago." He said as if she was setting up some kind of trap for him.

"It's not but you spend over a year's supply worth of ice cream so that means you earn a free ice cream cone. In fact-" She ripped out a handful of coupons from behind her. "These are coupons for free ice cream cones. We have to give them out to faithful customers like you. Between you and me, this is punishment for my boss for suggesting his employees to wear shorter skirts." Hiei wasn't exactly sure what happened but as long as he got his sweet snow, he didn't care. This just meant he didn't have to go to Koenma or Kurama whenever he needed human money. With the long coupons trailing behind him and a waffle cone in his hand, he went to his usual booth.

"Hey Hiei," Yusuke said casually, waving from his seat as he passed by their booth. The laugh he had reserved for his short friend was threatening to spill from his smirk. Hiei stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening.

Mizuki didn't pay attention how Hiei looked visibly upset by his teammates discovering him in a place like this. She merely shifted herself in her seat, absentmindedly running her finger along the surface of the glass that covered the ice cream.

_Aiko could've at least called ahead to say that she was going to be late. There's no one else managing the store but me. I'm hungry...sitting near ice cream doesn't exactly help either. Stop coming in already! _She stood up again, grinning from ear to ear ready to greet the customer who just came in. Unfortunately, it was the person she always tries to stay away from as much as possible.

"H-hello, Minamino-san! Welcome to Kitsune Heaven place." _Did I seriously just say the wrong name? I did that the last time he was here, too. _Kurama chuckled.

"Hello, Aoi-san. I believe it's called Heavenly Kitsune Ice Cream Parlor.I'm just here looking- Ah, my friends are over there. Congratulations on becoming number one by the way." He added before going over to join his friends teasing Hiei.

_What is he talking about? _Mizuki thought, taking off her fox cap. The other part time girl just came in apologizing about being late. Mizuki quickly took the opportunity to escape. The remaining people in the parlor sweatdropped at how fast she gathered her stuff and left through the backway.

"Rough day," she muttered to herself, wiping the weariness out of her eyes. _As I suspected, Minamino's friends aren't normal. Is that blue-haired girl a ninja? I swear she didn't come in through the front door. _She couldn't wait until she could fall asleep in her comfortable bed.

Back at the ice cream parlor, Yusuke and his friends moved to Hiei's favorite booth.

"So Kurama, you know that girl just now? What did you say to her to make her run out like that?" Yusuke said, smiling mirthfully. Apparently, it was his turn to be embarrassed. Hiei stiffly licked his ice cream cone near the window, glaring at the people passing by. "She goes to your school, right? Kuwabara told us you happened to tell her Eikichi was his cat. What luck she ran over his stupid cat, huh?" He nudged Kurama's arm with a meaningful look, ignoring Kuwabara's "Eikichi is not stupid!" His loud tone scared the children sitting two booths away from them.

"I'm not sure what you're trying to imply," Kurama said vaguely. Mizuki was always one to avoid him. She was nothing more than a person he happened to pass by lately. "I was merely trying to do Kuwabara a favor since he was worried about Eikichi."

Miyabe pulled the door open for two junior high school girls and walked right up to the counter.

"Hey Aiko, is Mizuki still here?"

"Nah, she just rushed out the door when I came in." Aiko said, popping her gum.

"Great." Miyabe commented, moving away to allow the junior high girls to order. _There's the person I wanted to see all day. _She thought, looking at the corner where Kurama smiled calmly as Hiei refused to acknowledge them. "Minamino-san, I see you're looking as pretty as usual." She walked up to their table. Yusuke snickered about the pretty comment. "Can I speak to you for a bit about Mizuki?"

Kurama looked at her, perplexed. Why did she have to speak about Mizuki Aoi with him of all people? "Outside, please? That is, if your friends don't mind." Miyabe added, her eyes on the strange assortment of people. They definitely weren't the type of people his type would've hung out with.

"We don't mind," Botan said, smiling. "Go ahead."

The Meiou Private Academy students went out of the parlor. Miyabe crossed her arms. The perfect model student stood across from her, patiently waiting for her love confession. The Mizuki thing was probably an excuse in front of his friends so she won't be embarrassed. He gets one of these every few weeks. It was tiresome in the least but hey, what could one do except reject them kindly, hoping they get the hint.

"Okay, here it is..." Miyabe sighed.

_Here it comes..._

"Okay, this is probably a strange request but I'd like you to get close to Mizuki-chan." She put out her palm to silence him as his mouth opened. "This isn't some elaborate scheme to get you to date her. It's nothing like that. Don't worry. Kami only knows how many girls must've asked you to date them. You notice that I just said her first name but not around her. The reason for that is because of a thing that happened in junior high school. After that event, she was taken out of school. She had been homeschooled ever since. The problem is now that she's back in school, she doesn't want any friends. She hates it whenever I call her by her first name and avoids any activities that means possibly making friends with other people. I don't want to see her lonely for the rest of the school year."

"Miyabe-san, I understand why you're concerned. I just don't understand why you're coming to me about this. You would have a higher percentage of getting close to her than me. She requested to be transferred to another class just to get away from me."

Miyabe tsked. "Don't be such a drama queen, Minamino-san. You weren't the only reason she wanted to transfer." Kurama crossed his arms now.

"Oh, then pray tell me what other reason could there be?"

"It's rude to interrupt others when they're talking. I chose you of all people because you have a lot of things in common. Think about it. In terms of grades, you're both ranked in the top ten meaning you're both nerds. You're both practically loners in school. You both look like girls although you're slightly prettier than her. Plus you give off "I'm ancient" kind of vibe so you'll come up with some wise way to persuade her to become her old self. Come on, you've talked to her a couple of times. She's a good person. Just ignore that whole she seems to be afraid of you sort of thing and you'll be fine. Look, if you'll succeed then I'll, um, I'll reward you with whatever you want, just not money."

"You really care about Aoi-san but I'm afraid I cannot take you up on your offer."

"Oh, why not? You can just consider it an experiment. Nerds love that kind of thing." Kurama made to go back inside the ice cream parlor.

"I don't enjoy messing with people's lives."

"It's not my thing either but if Mizu goes on like this, she'll be alone forever. How is befriending her messing up her life anyway? Ooh, look, Minamino-san, I have nothing against you but if I have to blackmail you, I will."

He arched one of his eyebrows. Could she have possibly found out about his real identity? She took out a manilla envelope out of her school bag. He sweatdropped.

"These pictures capture your most dazzling moments in school. If you don't do what I ask, then I'll sell these to all your fangirls. I wouldn't mind having some extra cash to spend." She dangled glossy photographs of him doing random things like elegantly eating lunch, studying at the library or standing outside the school property while his locks blew in the wind. "Don't worry. I didn't take any perverted pictures. You're lucky I'm not one of your fangirls. You do as I ask and I'll get rid of these, every last one of these. Deal?"

He sighed. "I couldn't exactly resist, could I?" Miyabe smiled, giving him the pictures. "Enjoy these. I still have the originals at home. Oh, a word of advice. The one thing she's really crazy about is foxes. She has this ridiculous notion that fox spirits are real. Stupid, huh?" She didn't notice the nervous look on his face. "Anyway, what I recommend is for you to buy something with a fox on it like a lead pencil or a fox figurine. Tell her how much you like foxes. Thanks a lot, Minamino-san."

The fifth interaction between Mizuki and him was rather confusing. What did he mean by that number one comment? She was going to find out the next day in school.

A/N: Review. That's all I ask. Please?


	2. Enter a Plea

**Boy Sized Dent** by Shoujo's Revenge

Summary: She's allergic to flowers, stays as far away from him as possible, loves to collect fox memorabilia and she accidentally plows into him with a car. She's the perfect mate for him. Kurama x oc

Disclaimer: Yoshihiro Togashi owns Yuu Yuu Hakusho.

A/N: Thanks to **YYHfan-KB, SweetxasxSin, S. aka too lazey to log in, Eerie Iri, Zoey24, Rokkugoh, Nichole** for the reviews. I appreciate it when people take the time to comment or just put me on their favorites list or whichever. Thank you.

**12/14/13: Hello! I won't be updating until next year. As for my writing plans, I will be doing some novel writing. Thank you for the support for this story. For future updates, you can always check my profile. **

Crash Two: Enter a Plea

"These pictures capture your most dazzling moments in school. If you don't do what I ask, then I'll sell these to all your fangirls. I wouldn't mind having some extra cash to spend." She dangled glossy photographs of him doing random things like elegantly eating lunch, studying at the library or standing outside the school property while his locks sailed in the wind. "Don't worry. I didn't take any perverted pictures. You're lucky I'm not one of your fangirls. You do as I ask and I'll get rid of these, every last one of these. Deal?"

He sighed. "I couldn't exactly refuse, could I?" Miyabe smiled, giving him the pictures. "Enjoy these. I still have the originals at home. Oh, a word of advice. The one thing she's really crazy about is foxes. She has this ridiculous notion that fox spirits are real. Stupid, huh?" She didn't notice the nervous look on his face. "Anyway, what I recommend is for you to buy something with a fox on it like a lead pencil or a fox figurine. Tell her how much you like foxes. Thanks a lot, Minamino-san."

With a smile, she hopped on her bike and pedaled away.

_Maybe I should be transfer to another school. _Kurama sighed, looking at the window. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Botan had their faces squished on the glass. They detached themselves as soon as they figured out he caught them eavesdropping. _Idiots..._He thought.

Oh, boy, this was going to be an interesting week. Kurama rejoined his friends. Miyabe was deliriously happy that he agreed to the deal. He could feel the curious stares on his back but he deliberately joined Hiei in staring out the window (well in Hiei's case, he was still glaring).

"So was that another one of your girlfriends?" Yusuke asked, nudging his arm suggestively.

"No, Yusuke, Miyabe-san is only a classmate of mine. She required my assistance with something," he said coolly.

"Oh, yeah? Does this have something to do with it?" Before Kurama could react, Yusuke snatched the manilla envelope from his hands.

"Yusuke!" The boy opened the top flap and poured out the contents. Kuwabara, Botan, Yusuke stared at the glossy photos of him. Hiei looked at them out of the corners of his eyes. The first thing that popped into their minds were (minus Hiei) were 'Wow, these photos were done so well. Did Kurama hire a professional photographer to take these pictures?' The second thing that popped into their minds were:

"Geez, Kurama. I always knew you were a little girly but I didn't know you have photoshoots." Kurama snatched up the photographs, redfaced. Oh, great. Now they all thought he was narcissistic. How did Miyabe always get him stuck in these situations?

"I know, Kurama..." Botan said, her eyes roaming over the photographs. "May I please keep this one?" She held up the picture of him standing against the backdrop of autumn leaves swirling in the wind.

"You may not." Botan pouted like a kitty as he snatched it back. "Just so you all know: I absolutely do _not _have photoshoots. This is Miyabe's idea of blackmail if I don't agree to her arrangement. How she even managed to take these snapshots I don't even know." It scared him to know that he hadn't sensed her at the moments these pictures were taken.

A white dog raised her head from her crossed paws at the sound of the key turning in the front door. Her curved up tail started to wag enthusiastically. Mizuki was finally coming home from school where her company wouldn't be tolerated even she tried so many times to sneak into the building. The problem was that dogs weren't allowed in school and she would surely get her owner in trouble if she snuck in. Like a faithful dog, she sat obediently at home and waited for her beloved owner quietly. She padded over to the opening door where Mizuki stood momentarily silouhetted against the dark blue night sky. Her head was down as she set down her schoolbag and slipped her feet into slippers. She automatically turned to the akita barking a greeting.

"I'm home," she whispered, kneeling down with a smile. The akita closed her eyes in contentment, enjoying the feel of her hand on her head. "Shiro, did someone feed you yet?" The dog frowned slightly at the weariness in her voice. She turned her head towards the living room. No sound could be heard meaning her grandpa was asleep. She made her way to the kitchen. Shiro followed after her.

Now that the dog got a chance to look closely at her, she saw that Mizuki was looking haggard. She uttered a whine. Her owner had been working too hard again. Mizuki poured her dinner into a chipped bowl, the name Shiro painted on the front of it.

"Here you go," Mizuki said, scratching the dog behind her ear and setting the bowl on the floor. Shiro placed her front paws on her shoulders and licked her face, whimpering as if to tell her to take it easy. Her owner understood her concern and stroked her once more. Now she would have to prepare dinner for her grandpa and herself. Shiro ate quietly near the counter where she could listen to the water running in the sink as her owner began to wash the dirty dishes.

As a dog, Shiro couldn't help her owner do the chores only the humans could do. She had to be on the alert for any little thing she could do besides watching over her owner's grandpa. For example, she picked up her toys whenever she was done so that nobody accidentally trip on them or refrained from begging to be walked when things were hectic. Still, even if Mizuki's schedule was too full, Shiro's needs would unfailingly be met. Her blue eyes stared guiltily at her reflection in the water bowl.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?"

Mizuki wasn't sure how one was supposed to tell if a dog was sick. As far as she could tell, Shiro had always been in tip top shape except for when she sometimes had stomachaches from eating strange things. Her hand laid on the crown of Shiro's head. Her head felt normal. Her eyes were doleful.

"Are you sad about something?"

Shiro dug her nose into the dog bowl, determined not to have Mizuki worry about her. It wouldn't do for her to have more worries. And so, her owner wandered back to her current task at hand, glancing back at the dog from time to time.

Shiro was by her side when dinner, a simple dish of rice and boiled fish, was served to her grandpa in his bedroom. The corners of his eyes crinkled up as he sat up and thanked her and Shiro, who carried the thermos of tea around her neck. She was by her side when Mizuki went back to the empty kitchen and ate her dinner, pages of her homework occupying the tabletop. She waited patiently at the wooden legs of the chair, ready for any task Mizuki wished for her to perform. Her eyes were glued to the problems on a math workbook. She stayed like that until she eventually fell asleep at the table, her dinner half-eaten. Shiro nudged her to urge her to eat more.

Mizuki didn't move. Shiro laid her head on her lap, closing her eyes.

Shiro thought of not allowing Mizuki to wake up the next day for school. She would get more sleep that way. Then she remembered something. She trotted to Mizuki's bedroom. In the darkness, she was able to bite one of the stuffed foxes off the neatly made bed. It was a white fox, its fluffy tail dragging on the floor. Foxes made her mistress happy, she knew that much. Her mistress would never knew that foxes were truly evil and mean spirited creatures. She, like so many human girls her age, only knew of how adorable foxes looked. If Shiro could verbally communicate with her, she would tell her all her experiences with those narcisists.

Mizuki's arms were sprawled on the table, her left arm almost knocking off the remains of her cold plate. Shiro nudged it away to the center of the table, replacing the fox in the crook of her widespread arms. Off balance, the stuffed animal leaned against the side of her peaceful face. Shiro returned to her rightful position beside her mistress. She glanced once more at her peaceful face. She whimpered a prayer that hopefully reached the ears of the gods: Please allow my mistress to be happy.

* * *

"Why are you all looking at me?" Mizuki Aoi asked, gripping her satchel. Miyabe led her to the bulletin board.

"See for yourself, Aoi-san," she said gently, pointing at the ranking.

"My name isn't there!" She was usually at least in the top ten.

"Try looking at the top three ranking."

_Don't tell me. I actually got into the third place? _She followed the names. _Third place: Yuu Kaitou. Second place: Shuuichi Minamino. First place: _Her heart skipped a beat, her eyes widening, her grip tightening. _Mizuki Aoi. _The students parted as she ran to the board to make sure her eyes weren't tricking her.

"Did you cheat or something, Aoi-san? This is the first time anybody has beaten Minamino," said a boy to her right. Her eyes slid to his confused face. She couldn't blame him for suspecting her; she wouldn't have believed it herself. Still, it was rather hurtful for someone to suggest it out loud in front of everybody else. The students around them murmured his suspicions. Determined footsteps came up to her right and they all could hear a slap resound in the hallway. It got quiet. Miyabe glared at the boy, her hand raised.

"Say that again, asshole if you want to get beaten up in front of everybody," Miyabe said, lifting him up by his collar. Mizuki firmly grasped Miyabe's hand and pulled it away from the loudmouth's collar.

"Don't get in trouble over this something this stupid," Mizuki whispered, dropping her hand. "It's not worth it. This is a mistake anyway." She waved to the board.

"Mizuki, why can't you defend yourself instead of belittling yourself? Minamino can't keep up his perfect record forever. He's only human. Someone else was going to broke his record eventually. Why can't it be you?" Miyabe asked.

"It's fine, Miyabe. Thanks anyway," Mizuki said, smiling gratefully.

Mizuki walked to her class, confused. She contemplated how it was even possible for her to surpass the two prodigies. She remembered the words Shuuichi Minamino said to her yesterday: _Congratulations on being number one. _He had said it so sincerely. As she took her usual desk by the window, everyone turned their eyes on her as if she was a rare species that just waltzed into their classroom.

_They saw the midterm results. _She realized, lowering her eyes to the desk. _How is it even possible? I actually guessed on some of the questions! _

While she had studied for her midterms, her lack of proper sleep caught up on her during exam week. She had barely enough sleep to function so she had to play guessing games on her answer sheet on a few questions. Shuuichi Minamino would've marked all the answers correctly so how did she possibly get the number one position? She made a note to stop by the administration office for some answers after school.

Meanwhile, Miyabe entered her own class, looked around and made her way to Kurama's desk. His fangirls didn't like how casually she walked over to him like they were close. Honestly, Kurama wasn't all that thrilled to see her so soon; he was still uncomfortable about the deal they made yesterday. He still wasn't sure how he planned to approach a girl who deliberately avoided him. Yusuke, on the other hand, had a lot of ideas and most of them included possible sexual harassment complaints. Botan had mysteriously pulled out costume fox ears out of thin air and gave them to Kurama. "She loves foxes, right?" She had asked when Kurama looked lost. She tried to put them in his hair while Kurama objected. Hiei's bad mood had gotten even worse because of their stupid argument.

"So Minamino-san? Did you talk to her this morning?" Miyabe asked. Kurama could tell by the brusque way she slammed down her hands on his desk that something got her upset. He already know what it was anyway. Several students especially female students kept coming up to him, complaining about Mizuki Aoi. 'How dare she take your place! She probably cheated to get that spot!' were the general complaints.

"No, Miyabe, I did not." He said simply. She was suddenly very close to his face, her hands clutching the side of his desk.

"Minamino-san, if you do not make at least an attempt to talk to her by lunchtime, I will _kiss_ you in front of everyone." She whispered darkly. "Now remember, Minamino-san, a deal is a deal." She said cheerfully, standing up straight and skipped merrily to her seat.

He never thought he would ever be reduced to being afraid of a human girl. To his relief, Miyabe generally ignored him for the rest of the class though her actions did make their classmates wonder about them. His thoughts fell to the girl who managed to get the highest grade on the midterms in the whole school when he wasn't preoccupied on thoughts of Miyabe kissing him. It was a thought that send shivers down his spine. The back of Mizuki's head always popped into his head because that was generally the first thing he saw of her since the beginning of her first year. She had started to attend Meiou last year. She used to be seated by the windows so the sunrays highlighted her coffee brown hair. The boy seated behind Kurama always commented on that when he and his friend whispered about the new girl. Whenever people conversed with her, she answered back out of politeness then excused herself. She was generally accepted by everybody as the typical shy girl, no one special. One of the strange things about her was that she almost never looked at Shuuichi Minamino, the class pretty boy, at least once or even if she did, she quickly turned away, directing her attention elsewhere. Even when she had a problem, she went to Yuu Kaitou, who wasn't very friendly instead of the number one genius of the class.

Kurama probed further into his mind to see if there was some memories of him doing something, however small, to her that might've given her the wrong impression. Oh, wait, there was the underwear incident but her apparent dislike towards him started way before that incident. Maybe he had rejected her when she had confessed her love to him in the past. No, that couldn't be it, if that was the case, she would glare at him. The first and only time she ever did that was again during the underwear incident. Most of the times she had pretended like he wasn't there. He picked up his pencil and worked on the math problems that the teacher just assigned in the workbook, his thoughts still on her. Suddenly, a vision of her wearing her fox uniform appeared in his mind's eye along with Yusuke's teasing voice:

_**Yo, Kurama, don't you think she looked kind of cute in that fox get up? Now you know where to look when you're in heat. **_

Hiei's bad mood escalated because his ice cream cone ended up in Yusuke's face. The whistling Kurama had ignored both two pairs of angry eyes on his back.

_If you hadn't opened your big mouth, Yusuke..._Kurama set down his pencil after finishing his work earlier than the others.

The door slid open and a familiar brunette student stuck her head in, one hand on the frame of the door, addressing their math teacher. He looked up to see the fox girl, he brushed the image away, or rather Mizuki informing the teacher in hushed tones of an emergency concerning her car. From what Kurama could hear, an ambulance was trying to get into the parking lot and her car was blocking its way.

The teacher made an annoyed groan. "Class," she announced loudly, capturing their attention. Her students were already conscious of what was going on; they weren't very interested in their boring assignment. "I have to go move my car. I'll be right back. Don't go making trouble. Watch these clowns, Minamino."

"Of course, sensei," he said politely. Some of his fangirls giggled. Mizuki hadn't looked his way once, he observed. His gaze stayed on her. He quickly snapped his gaze to Miyabe's desk which was the desk closest to the door. Her head was down, the top of her pencil moving as she concentrated on her classwork. She did look up for a second to wave to Mizuki. Caught unawares, the brunette waved meekly when the teacher's back was turned. Satisfied, Miyabe's brown gaze returned to her paper.

"Let's go, Mizuki," the teacher said. "By the way, don't you have class now?" She murmured.

"The ambulance coming is for our teacher. Tachibana-sensei fainted so..." She didn't have to fill the rest of the sentence.

"He is getting on in years," the teacher commented, nodding understandably. "I do hope he'll be all right. Yes, Miyabe?" She addressed the girl who had her hand raised, waving her workbook.

"I don't get this crap, sensei. Can Aoi-san please help me since she doesn't have class anymore."

"I'm sure Minamino can help you."

* * *

"Hey, Keiko, gimme a fancier word for the word pretty." Yusuke said, his face screwed up in concentration.

Keiko put down her study guide.

"What? Are you actually doing homework?" She asked, peering at the paper he had been working on since the beginning of class.

"Nah, it's more important than homework. I'm writing a love letter," he said.

"Wh-what? For who?"

"For a girl from Kurama's school." Her hopes were dashed by his nonchalant response which earned him a slap across his face.

"Ow! What was that for? Oh..." He figured it out from her livid expression. "It's not like that! I'm not writing this from me. This is from Kurama." He had to further explain the circumstances from her now confused expression.

"Oh..." Now that she was enlightened with the knowledge of Kurama's apparent girl trouble. "So you're helping him get this girl to talk to him by faking a love letter from him? Then you're going to need my help." She snatched the letter from him. "First of all, if you're going to try to forge a letter then at least write legibly. I can't read one thing here except for the giant 'I love you' and why did you draw a fox in the corner here? Kurama would never do that in a letter besides his writing is a hundred times more legible."

"The girl loves foxes. Her friend told Kurama she thinks fox demons are real. Can you imagine the look on his face when she said that?" He chuckled. "And check this: Hiei's been seeing her at her job."

Keiko gasped at the promise of juicy gossip.

"Hiei-san likes her, too?"

"I'd say he likes her for her ice cream. That's the reason Hiei kept disappearing off at our meetings. He goes to this ice cream place called Kitsune Heaven or something."

Keiko's eyes lit up, gasping again. "Oh, I wanted to go to the Heavenly Kitsune Ice Cream Parlor ever since it opened! My friends told me it's really cute and the people who work there even wear costumes!"

"She has to wear this stupid pink cap with ears sticking out. She even has a tail sticking out her butt. Think about it. She's a fox girl, he's a fox boy. They make the perfect couple!" One of Keiko's eyebrows lifted in suspicion.

"Since when do you play cupid for your friends?" She crossed her arms.

"Kurama is a dear dear friend of mine and I would like to use this opportunity to get revenge on him."

"I thought so. You're normally dense when it comes to this kind of stuff."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing." Keiko picked up her pencil and turned to a blank page in her notebook. "I don't know why you're getting on revenge on Kurama but it's nice of you to help him find a girlfriend. Sometimes I wondered if he feels lonely. This..." She tried to make out the name Yusuke wrote on top of the paper. "Mi-yu-ki Aio sounds like a girl who would appreciate Kurama for his true self. Deep down inside, you just want him to be happy, right, Yusuke? Yusuke?" She looked up to see him walking out the door, stretching his arms.

"Thanks a lot, Keiko," he said, yawning. "Meet me at the Kitsune Heaven place after school when you're finished, okay?"

"Yusuke! Come back here, you jerk!" Keiko shouted. Her classmates stared at her.

* * *

Her stomach growled as a reminder that she hadn't eaten for the whole day. Mizuki hugged her stomach, mentally begging for it to stop grumbling, trying to read the next passage of a book propped up on her legs. A light breeze blew strands of her long hair across her forehead. Her finger on the yellowing page guided her weary eyes.

"The man discovered his lovely wife was actually a fox spirit disguised as a young woman. In spirit form, the fox was prepared to flee from her husband's life forever. However, the man stopped her in her tracks by saying: "Even if you are a fox spirit, you are still my wife. I would love you no differently. The fox spirit-Ahh! M-minamino-san!" The roof door opening interrupted the rest of her loud narration.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, Aoi-san." Kurama said, his hand on the door handle. "Were you speaking to somebody?"

She scrambled to her feet, the book falling off her lap. Kurama briefly caught a glimpse of the big bold title **The Collected Tales of Fox Spirits**. She quickly stuffed it in her backpack, blushing.

"N-no, I was just reading. Oh, were you going to eat lunch here? Sorry, I didn't know this is your spot. I can leave."

His 'spot' during lunch period was behind the school where he sat under a tree, admiring the flowers grown on the school property. Although, this was a perfect opportunity to make nice with her. He offered his most charming smile. She wasn't affected by it.

"You don't have to leave, Aoi-san. I needed to talk to you about something anyway."

She shuffled her feet, hiding her hands behind her back. "This isn't about the test results, is it? I didn't cheat if that's what you think. Even if I cheated, you would still surpass me. It's obviously a mistake on the administration's part."

"Oh, that. I know you didn't cheat. How could you have cheated with the teachers watching us like hawks? In fact, I'm impressed you beat me out of the number one spot." She seemed relieved, looking suspiciously at him.

"Then if it's about that cat I ran over..."

"Kuwabara-kun's kitten is fine."

"Then if it's about those coupons..."

"No, but Hiei thanks you for those." Technically, the fire demon didn't wish to thank her at all but Kurama felt it was right to do it on his behalf. "I just thought I speak to you about foxes." He saw a spark of interest in her green eyes. "I noticed you have a fondness for them."

"Um, I have to go."

"Wait! Is there something the matter, Aoi-san?" Kurama asked gently.

The last thing he wanted to do was scare her away though her shoulders sort of did a jump. The two of them were alone on the roof. He was blocking the only escape route unless she would consider jumping off the roof. He sincerely hoped she didn't detest him enough to attempt that feat.

A/N: Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter. Sadly, this is the best writing I haven't done in years. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and thanks for reading even if you didn't review.

I hope I didn't confuse anyone with the scene jumps. I'm still not great at moving from scene to scene smoothly.


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